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I've also listed some tips for overcoming the barriers below.
We must frequently rely on IT and/or our Web team to provide the enabling infrastructure and we are low on their priority list.
This one is easy. The best and fastest solution is to outsource. You can task a marketing communications agency with helping you set up a program, or you can subscribe to one of the hosted email solutions and do it yourself. I list some places to start investigating self-service solutions under point the next point.
We do not have direct access to our mailing and tracking tools and have to rely on outside resources to put our strategies into play.
This is why I prefer a do-it-yourself solution, at least in the beginning. Being able to touch and modify your campaigns directly is not only a great way to learn, it will save you a ton of money and help you ensure that your business to business email marketing strategy is truly a low-cost solution.
Here are a two popular tools you can look into...
1 AutomationWiz:
This is the tool I use to publish this ezine and to automate all of the email follow-up on my site. I chose it because it provides the subscriber acquisition and database management tools I need, allows me to send text or HTML emails, doesn't restrict the number of emails I can send in any given month, and (most importantly) provides unlimited sequential autoresponders. The autoresponder feature is a must-have if you want to truly automate your program.
To learn more about 1AutomationWiz visit http://www.1AutomationWiz.com
Mailer
This is an excellent tool as well. Mailer Mailer provides a lot more HTML support than 1AutomationWiz (including complete, fill-in-the- blank templates). If your goal is to create good looking HTML messages, Mailer Mailer makes it really easy.
Another thing that this tool has that 1AutomationWiz does not is the ability to track opens (how many times your message was read). What it is lacking is unlimited sequential autoresponders.
To learn more about Mailer Mailer click visit http://www.mailermailer.com
We do not know exactly how to implement an effective business to business email marketing strategy.
There are a lot of resources on the Web to help get you started, but this is definitely an area of need. As I look around, I find that there aren't any great, step-by-step guides for setting up an business to business email marketing strategy within a business. In fact, I see such a need that I've started writing a book about it. I'll keep you posted about the progress, but if you have immediate questions, please email me and I'll try to include answers in the Subscriber Q&A in the next issue.
We fear being branded as a spammer at the slightest indiscretion.
Spam is an epidemic, but this concern is overblown when it comes to emailing your customers. If you send an unsolicited email to a customer with legitimate information that they are likely to want, you will not be accused of spamming. Be reasonable, provide an easy way to opt-out, and check your ethics, and you won't have a problem. The best rule of thumb is to give first...then ask. Provide excellent, useful information, and then make an offer.
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